It was a “tired” John Carmack who announced Friday his departure from Meta, the parent company of Facebook. A video game pioneer, the manager was one of the last survivors of Oculus, the virtual reality headset manufacturer bought in 2014 for two billion dollars. In recent months, however, he had multiplied criticism of the company’s strategy. “We have an incredible amount of talent and resources, but we are sabotaging ourselves,” he further explained in his farewell message, consulted by the New York Times. His departure is above all symbolic: John Carmack’s influence had continued to decline. But it testifies to the difficulties of Meta’s Reality Labs, responsible for leading the shift towards the metaverse, this virtual world so dear to Mark Zuckerberg. Despite substantial investments – more than ten billion dollars last year – the technology remains unconvincing.
For further:
– Mark Zuckerberg faces doubts over his strategy in the metaverse
– Why Facebook Bets So Much on the Metaverse